Tips and Tricks to get your product some "Face Time"

When you are bombarded with messages everyday, it’s paramount to be able to stand out in a crowd. Consumer brands have struggled with being able to captivate the attention of the public, and as a result marketing efforts have shifted towards getting “in the face” of the buyer.

Face-to-face marketing is more personal and more effective than email, phone calls, and direct mail. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, keep in mind that it’s also more expensive and time-consuming. Pricing aside, let’s look at what makes this marketing concept so effective.

A unique face-to-face marketing campaign can create a personalized brand experience that is engaging, stimulating, and memorable. If the consumer is left feeling good about the brand, chances are they will continue to choose your products over your competitors. Can you say "win-win"?

Starmedia is ready to help you bring your brand to life. Contact us today to show you how to incorporate this medium into your existing campaign.

Starmedia Productions

Starmedia is ready to expertly bring your creative vision to the screen. No matter what the project requires - creative development, video and commercial productions, multimedia projects or corporate event supporting materials - our team will find the right solution in conveying your message accurately, creatively and memorably.

Starmedia Productions is a completely integrated television and film production company that has the background, experience and capacity to research, plan and budget your production from corporate videos, instructional videos, television commercials to television pilots, short films and full length motion pictures.

We are a dynamic consortium of the finest local and international talent under one roof ready to initiate the design, creative concept and structure of your project from story board to post editing.

We develop, brainstorm and come up with the idea, present them to you than once you’re convinced proceed to deal with every detail to make your vision a success.

Creativity, originality, passion and expressing clearly your project in a way that moves the viewer is what we specialize in. Capturing the imagination and leaving a lasting impression is what sets Starmedia Productions apart from the others. Starmedia Productions has the talent and creative resources to meet any challenge head-on.

Let us bring your creative vision to the screen. As a full service production facility we have the talent and technology to deliver first class service on target with your budget whatever it may be. Starmedia Productions is ready to hit the ground running with your project to produce a credible, recognized and professionally accomplished work of art. On budget, on time, every time.

Trade Show Displays and Marketing Materials: the Perfect Opportunity to Showcase Your Products and Services

Preparing for trade shows

A trade show is meant to showcase and demonstrate new products and services within an industry. When you have members of the press, as well as members of your trade as well as the general public, at some trade shows, you really need to make a strong impact. Of course your company or product is very important, but it’s making people notice it which is really key.

When you’re already investing in space rental, travel and accommodations, it makes sense to invest appropriately in the design and construction of the trade show booth. Starmedia can help you get the best design for your money by finding the right path for your display, and help you decide what size of display best suits your needs. As a full-service advertising agency, we can also help with other promotional materials such as brochures or presentation folders, as well as guiding you which trade shows may be coming up in your industry that you want to promote your company in.


Don’t wait for the last minute

If you’re thinking of entering a trade show a season or two away, it’s a good idea to get in touch today. This will help you judge what sort of investment is required to get a high quality final product, and you’ll avoid any rush charges for printing or shipping of your trade show display. We can create a design that fits with your existing company brand, or if you have no company look, we can suggest one for you.

We can design or redesign your logo and stationery, as well as other promotional materials from informative print materials to items as seemingly minor as a coffee mug, but which people will remember you for. It’s important to have all of these designs work seamlessly together to create a strong brand. Let Starmedia push your image to the next level for your next trade show!

Quiet On The Set

With the wealth of marketing tools at our fingertips these days, the classics are often overlooked. It's true that radio is seeing tough times these days, and billboard ads are not the most cost-effective means of advertising for most people's purposes. Video, on the other hand, has a myriad of purposes, from corporate videos to television commercials to more unique purposes like presentations and as part of a website.

When beginning work on any sort of video production, it is a good idea to think of the "why" of your project before you start looking into the "how." An advertising agency is able to help you decide what the best approach is to your video. Should it be one minute or 5? Should it be serious or whimsical? Should it be informative or slick...or both?

The other point to balance in video work is to find creative people who can give their unique aesthetic when that is the look required, or to find people who are capable of recreating a particular look when the need arises to mimic a pre-existing style. You may want a very dramatic feel for a video and be looking for someone to look to the Moulin Rouge movie for inspiration. When you have a specific vision for a project, it is always recommended that you provide as much information and inspiration as possible. It's rare to have a finished product that looks exactly the way you pictured it, but the usual goal is to get it most of the way to the original expectations, then make it even a bit better than the original vision.

The key to getting any project done on time and on budget is finding a strong team that can handle everything. As soon as you begin dealing with one team for the shooting of a video and another unrelated team for the editing of a video, in addition to all of the other tasks involved, accountability is lost completely. Timelines can become delayed, and blame gets deferred from team to team.

Get an experienced company that can handle every facet of your video production. Get the results you're looking for. The success of video lies in its succinct and engaging nature.

StarMedia Case Study: CHRD

At the StarMedia Advertising Agency, the client is always the number one priority. We've worked with clients regionally, nationally and internationally. Through the relationships we foster with our clients, we act as brand and advertising stewards, consistently and creatively producing solutions so that our clients can reap the results.

Here is the Case Study of the Cree Human Resource Development, one of our clients we have been working with in the last year;

The unemployment rate for the Cree population is around 25%, out of a labor force of 7,500. This number is particularly high, well above the federal and provincial averages. This unemployment rate doubles in the 15-24 age demographic.

The CHRD was designed to give the Cree, especially this large segment of jobless youth greater access to the proper resources to find employment. The CHRD wanted to enliven their materials. At Starmedia, our job was to create a strong visual product, well organized for ease of use. With the rich visual tradition in which the Cree culture is steeped, we thought it best to incorporate traditional motifs into a modern look of the CHRD, which would appeal to the Cree labor force.

Designing the CHRD materials became an interesting proposal for Starmedia design. It was our first experience working with the native Cree language, Iiyiyuu ayiimuun. In fact the materials were trilingual as French and English featured as well. The blend of these three languages required smooth lines and carefully modulated colors.

The colors for the material were selected through extensive research of the Cree traditions, and application of this new knowledge to the psychology of color: The greens express the northern boreal forest evoking growth, discovery, and respect. The burnt umbers and oranges of the autumn hearken the fall when folk tales and legends were told in the community. Red was used as a symbol for strength and courage. All of these colors correspond to the deep white background, suggesting the frozen tundra and winterscapes of the northern Quebec climate.

To see more please visit the CHRD Case Study or see other Case Studies on Our Clients page.

An Evolving Media

In case you haven’t heard, the Internet has gone local. Local online search is now second only to email for the most common online activity. Unfortunately Mom and Pop seem woefully unprepared for this shift in marketing. Still hewing closely to the 20^th century marketing model, local businesses are investing primarily in print and broadcast marketing, allocating less than 5% in Internet marketing.

By 2017, forecasters predict that local businesses will be investing close to 25% in their Internet marketing campaigns. But, you don’t have to wait that long. All the resources and tools are out there to help you get started on your Internet campaigns. You don’t have to be a computer whiz, as long as you hire a forward thinking company that specializes in Internet marketing to enact your campaign for you.

One of the most important aspects of Internet marketing is the actual website design itself. Your website is the portal connecting potential customers to your product and company. On a local level this gives the customer all the information they need, to avail of your services.

Search engine optimization or SEO is the process of getting traffic to your website. Sadly, many people still think that simply putting a website on the web is enough. There is not much point in investing in the Internet as an advertising avenue if no one will ever see it. The whole process requires research, strategic campaign planning and a professional website design. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by hiring a professional.

So the writing is on the wall, with more people searching the Internet for their local business needs, an adjustment to the more traditional marketing model is needed. This does not mean that all business owners must learn how to create their own websites. A reputable advertising company, well versed in Internet marketing is the best bet so these forays into new advertising territories are executed properly and professionally. A good website and tactical SEO, while not just visually pleasing can give potential customers all the information that they need in order to find you and frequent your service.

Marketing with the Muppets

If you’re staring with a smile at the pictures in this blog post, then you are a prime candidate for joining me on this discussion. What makes the Muppets a popular advertising image? As today is the anniversary of Jim Henson’s death, a colleague suggested that our blog should discuss how Henson’s Muppets have been successfully used throughout the years in a number of advertising campaigns including Ford™, Pizza Hut™, Denny’s™, Post™ and many more. It’s an interesting thought. What is it about those cute little puppets that make us open our wallets in delight?

Familiarity. The Muppets are recognized worldwide. Popular television shows such as The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock were highly rated and syndicated. The Muppets were in books, on television, in the movies and on our lunchboxes. They defined a generation and more than that, they made us laugh. Whether it is subconscious or not, we trust the Muppets. If you can use your advertising icon to create a feeling of trust between your company and your customers, you will make money.

Nostalgia. We love to remember the “good ol’ days” when things were simple and fun. We fondly recall the moments when families crowded around the television and watched Kermit peak out from behind the Muppets famous red curtain or see Bert and Ernie banter on Sesame Street. When we see them on tee shirts and posters, we want to involve them in our lives once again. The 2000s are all about nostalgia. Instead of defining our generation through something new, we are looking back to the past. The sooner we realize this, the better our marketing campaigns will become.

Laughter. We are much more likely to spend money on things that bring us joy. Advertising loves to play this up. Make your customers laugh and you’ll have them focusing on your campaign and not thinking about the money that they’re about to spend. From the “manamana” song to the geriatrics shouting from their opera box, the Muppets bring a smile to our faces and convince us that they’re worth spending money on.

We can learn a lot from the Muppets about advertising tricks and how to run a successful advertising campaign. The Muppets inspired us. Not only to spend money, but to be better people and to share a laugh with friends and family. Today let us remember a man who was passionate about puppets; a man who brought us Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and a whole group of friendly, funny and sometimes sarcastic characters who we will always fondly remember.

Muppets as Advertising Icons
A photo journey of some of the Muppets advertising campaigns...

1. Kermit becomes an icon for teaching people that "dreams are possible."

2. The Swedish Chef gets his own fun cereal brand from Post™ in 1988. It is being re-released this year (2007). The box is filled with kids' games and fun facts like "does not include brocolli"

3. Miss Piggy shows that "pigging out" on Pizza is fun at Pizza Hut™.

4. Kermit shows that "being green" is an awesome feature for the new Hybrid Ford vehicles.

5. Adidas releases green shoes signed by Kermit. Enough said.

Have something you'd like to say? Leave a comment or drop me an email at kate@starmedia.ca